Police have launched what is believed to be a murder inquiry after a pensioner was found dead in Northern Ireland over the Christmas break.

Officers from the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) were called to a house outside Newry after relatives raised concerned over the safety of the woman who was in her 80s and had lived alone.

Her family became alarmed after she failed to answer phone calls on Christmas Day. The last time they had spoken to her was on Christmas Eve, police said yesterday.

PSNI forensic officers cordoned off the house on the lower Dublin Road yesterday morning. Her body had been found shortly after 10am on Christmas morning at the terraced house on the southern outskirts of Newry. The police were investigating local reports that the dead woman's house may have been burgled sometime over Christmas.

A PSNI spokeswoman confirmed that they were treating the death as "suspicious". She added that a post-mortem was to be carried out last night.

Local Sinn Fein member of the Northern Ireland Assembly Mickey Brady said: "The family is in a deep state of shock," added the Sinn Féin representative. "Hopefully the police will be able to establish the cause of death as soon as possible."

SDLP Assembly member Dominic Bradley said: "This is shocking news for a family to get at any time but it is made worse when it comes on Christmas Day.

"Right now my thoughts and prayers are with the family who are attempting to come to terms with this terrible news."

Meanwhile the PSNI confirmed yesterday that they have recovered a car linked to a so-called "tiger" kidnapping in Belfast a week ago.

Detectives are also questioning a man aged 64 and a 40-year-old woman after the discovery of a silver-coloured Vauxhall Astra. It was found in an underground car park in central Belfast on Christmas Eve.

They believe the car may have been used by the gang that took a woman and two children hostage while a man was ordered to remove money from a Marks and Spencer store where he worked at Sprucefield, near Lisburn on the southern outskirts of the city. It is understood £90,000 was handed over and the family were later released unharmed.